"You've been away from home for a whole year, let me sum it up. You're now claiming to be the world's No.1 Sword Master with a bounty of 3,276,000,000 Belly, right?"
"Yeah."
"The so-called Sea Emperor seems extremely powerful, even the entire Navy Headquarters plus the Seven Warlords of the Sea can barely maintain balance with you guys?"
"Yeah."
"Besides Kuina and Robin, you've also added a pretty girl named Bonney to your crew?"
"Um... Ha?? Nami must have been talking nonsense on the phone, that girl is still a kid! Mom, what exactly are you trying to say with all this?"
"What do you think!"
At the dining table, Belle-Mere twisted Shano's ear angrily and said:
"You're already 19 years old, which means it's your 20th year, and if you count lunar age it's 21. Now that you're successful and surrounded by beautiful companions of the right age, yet you're still all alone. What do you think I'm trying to say?"
Shano's eye twitched.
So, you rushed back from Shimotsuki Village to Cocoyashi just to push for marriage!
Cocoyashi Village doesn't have any concept of lunar age, did you pick up this nonsense from staying too long in Isshin Dojo at Wano Country?
He hates the idea of lunar age!
"Someone who's not even 40 yet, what's the rush to become a grandma?"
Shano took a big bite of the honey-glazed ribs in front of him:
"Mm, delicious... By the way, did you come back on your own this time, or did Koushirou send someone with you?"
When coaxing Mom, the best way is to let words go in one ear and out the other while changing the subject.
Sure enough.
Belle-Mere's attention immediately shifted, as she blew out a smoke ring and sighed:
"I sailed back by myself. There's a kid at the dojo who's sick, very seriously. I've been helping take care of them for many days. Since I left, of course, I had to leave it to Koushirou, who couldn't leave."
"Otherwise, he really wanted to come and see you. Also, he asked me to tell you that Sanji and Zoro, those two brats, officially set sail at the beginning of the year."
"Really."
Shano was a little surprised.
If he remembers correctly, these two are only sixteen, right?
Even Ace and Luffy were seventeen when they set out to sea, and these two are even earlier.
Looks like over the past year, Kuina's adventures with him have made such a name for themselves that those brats got motivated too.
Just don't know if the two are acting together or split up to compete.
If Zoro sails on his own ship...
Uh, maybe he'd get lost and just float all the way to Laugh Tale.
"Really looking forward to seeing them in the New World."
Shano laughed heartily, gulped down the corn chowder in front of him, and contentedly patted his round belly, "Delicious, such a missed taste."
"Oh, please."
Belle-Mere flicked the ash off her cigarette and said irritably, "With that old man Zeff with you, you still lack good food?"
"So sour."
Shano pouted, "It's not the same, no matter how skilled the master chef, it can't beat the taste of home."
"Really?"
Belle-Mere snorted, but couldn't help the slight upward curve of her lips.
Might as well take it as this kid speaking from the heart.
She extinguished her cigarette and stood up to clean the tableware:
"Alright, enough buttering up, go take a bath and change your clothes. You got so drunk last night and slept in it, you're stinking, what a state."
"That's not urgent, let's talk business first."
Shano helped tidy up the dishes: "I figure as soon as I left, Nami already informed you over the phone, it's been so many days. Have you thought about it, do you want to come with me to the New World?"
"Eh?"
Belle-Mere paused her actions, looked up in surprise at Shano: "I thought Nami was teasing me, are you serious?"
"Of course."
Shano picked up the tableware, turned his head and chuckled as he passed Belle-Mere, "I already have two territories over there, and in the future, there will be more. You can live wherever you want."
"If you get bored and miss us three, just come on my ship, stay wherever you like. I didn't bring you along before and made you leave your hometown because I was afraid you'd get caught up in it."
He winked, "But now things are different, there's no one in this world who can harm my dear mom anymore."
"Such big talk."
Belle-Mere kicked over irritably, "Forget washing the dishes, go brush your teeth!"
Shano brought his right hand to his mouth, huffed a breath, and sniffed... there was indeed a strong smell of alcohol.
"Oh."
The Sea Emperor immediately obediently put down the dishes, took out a toothbrush, and squeezed some toothpaste.
"Ah, leaving the East Sea, to see the outside world?"
Belle-Mere leaned by the window, with one hand on her chin, looking at the few lush orange trees in the yard, she smiled slightly:
"For all these years, my biggest wish was to watch you, Nami, and Nojiko grow up safely, then save up a big sum of money. Now that you're all doing well and I've saved enough, I can finally rest easy and pursue my dream."
"Pursue a dream? I wholeheartedly support it!"
Shano gargled and spat out a mouthful of foam, happily turned back, "So, you're saying yes?"
"Yeah, the luggage I brought back from Shimotsuki Village hasn't been unpacked, so no need to pack."
Belle-Mere, being straightforward and frank, since she's made up her mind, didn't bother hiding it, and chuckled:
"Once you finish the dishes, we can leave right away!"